Marriage Equality Sign Vandalized North of Albertville

Mike Schoemer (Editor) October 18, 2012 at 08:15 pm

If you have pictures or have instances of sign vandalism from your yard, upload them here or email us at stmichael@patch.com

Al Anderson October 18, 2012 at 09:58 pm

No one deserves to have their opinions disregarded and vandalized in such fashion. I dislike leftist candidates platforms - but anyone who cares enough to have their opinion made - deserves the respect to have it allowed to be made.

Eric October 18, 2012 at 11:23 pm

Al is correct. I am in favor of the amendment, but this is uncalled for. I had a couple signs stolen two years ago. It's not right. Everyone has a right to their opinion in this country (but not to my wallet).
PS. I will add one word of caution. It is not unheard of for people to fake vandalism to make the other side look bad, so do wait until we hear more before rushing to judgement.

Al Anderson October 18, 2012 at 11:51 pm

Agreed Eric. Self-vandalizing is always possible. I've recently had one of my "signs" vandalized as well.....but not to the point that I couldn't fix it again myself.

Rick October 19, 2012 at 02:37 am

It boils down to respect. I am a fiscal conservative and am for the Marriage Amendment ( there is a lot of misinformation about this campaign and the Voter ID campaign out there too folks, so please read the proposed legislation and don't base your vote on the advertising), but the question has to be asked... what right does anyone have to desecrate anothers property? Like I said, it boils down to respect and the fact that certain segments of the populace think anothers opinion doesn't matter.

Albertville resident October 19, 2012 at 11:04 am

You're right Rick! Yes, read up people! Even the title of this article is misleading. It's not about "marriage equality" at all! I'm getting tired of the liberal bias on the Patch.

Brian Norby October 19, 2012 at 01:23 pm

I agree that the patch is VERY biased. I know that many "yes" signs have been stolen and or vandalized. There is no reporting about these instances....

Mike Schoemer (Editor) October 19, 2012 at 01:41 pm

The sign is sponsored by "Minnesotans for Marriage Equality" ... hence the headline. And if there are "Yes" signs being vandalized Brian, I'd love to hear about it. Hence the comment immediately after I posted the story.

Erica Gindele October 19, 2012 at 05:00 pm

Driving through this community makes me cringe; this election has seriously made me think about moving. The Vote Yes signs ooze with fear and hatred, and I, for one, cannot wait for election day to be over.
Whatever your stance on gay marriage, there is no place for an amendment like this in our constitution. As the Archbishop Fulton Sheen says: "Politics exist to lead free men to a prosperous and virtuous common life on this earth; religion exists to save men’s souls." Let the church deal with a person's soul, and keep things that limit a person's freedom out of our constitution. Should not our constitution reflect our rights, and not our limitations?

Michael October 19, 2012 at 06:44 pm

Amen Erica. I couldn't agree more! Once you let government start limiting your freedoms, they will never stop until you have no freedoms left.
Mike

Brett Drake October 20, 2012 at 03:48 am

I'd like to hear why those of you who have commented are in favor of the amendment.

JoJo October 20, 2012 at 04:28 am

Because I've seen several pics of the teen children of friends messing with political signs, I would put very little importance on this small case of vandalism. (they have all targeted conservatives and Republicans, but I think kids really don't care about the party as much as that they can screw with what people think). I'm concerned about my yard signs, too. Did you see the video news story of the Democrat woman who was all upset thinking Republicans were trashing her Obama sign? She set up a video and watched early one morning, and guess what? It turned out DEER were walking through the area, and one of them didn't like where the sign was so lifted it right up with it's horns and of course left holes in it...just like the holes left in the others "vandalized" in recent days. Deer must have been a Republican. ;)

Mike Schoemer (Editor) October 20, 2012 at 04:38 am

JoJo, you are free to post any pics here you might see of vandalism. We want to bring attention to that.

Cheri Mahon October 20, 2012 at 04:44 am

Well said, Erica! The point of a constitution is to protect our rights, not limit them. It's upsetting to me that so many would support something so divisive.
I also wanted to say that we live in the neighborhood of the vandalized sign, and last night our yard sign was stolen (another neighbor's was missing as of today as well... he wasn't home when I went over to ask if his was stolen too, but pretty sure it was). Very upset about all of this, but have decided the best thing I can do is go buy more signs. Will be making that trip tomorrow.

Al Anderson October 20, 2012 at 09:49 am

All of this reminds me of the 2008 election -- when some Carleton College or St Olaf professor was caught red-handed stealing McCain signs in the middle of the night.
McCain was no fiscal conservative -- but I have no doubt what party that professor was from. Is he still a professor in Northfield? Of course.

Al Anderson October 20, 2012 at 10:02 am

Ms. Ginsele -- if you want to go to an area that is over the top scary -- go head down to southwest Minneapolis sometime -- the mindset is frightening. All big government types - with little thought to the theft of freedoms that they are supporting. (This is the area that Jim Graves lives in, by the way). If you want to discuss which party has spent the last 100 years destroying the constitution (Hint - its the Democrat party) -- I'm all for it.
As to state amendment issues -- how do you think the Legacy Amendment or the Special Gas tax Amendments got on the election ballot? By a DFL controlled legislature who was frustrated that the Governor wasnt going to sign their extravagant spending bills. I don't like all these special amendments either -- but this game got started by the Democrat party ...not the Republicans

Albertville resident October 21, 2012 at 09:06 pm

Amen, Al!

Lynne Fleming October 25, 2012 at 03:48 pm

It is interesting to think about the fact that if anyone were to participate in vandalism of a political sign such as this, driven by their religious beliefs, that they don;t stop to consider that "freedom of religion" should be respected just as much as "freedom of speech" (which is what the sign is emulating).
Disallowing the freedom of marriage only hurts families (especially those trying to raise children in our biased society). The freedom of marriage (when the vote finally passes) simply does not have any adverse effect on marriage between a man and a woman. Those marriages are in no way any more or any less because of any freedom of marriage. I do not believe individuals have the right to limit the freedom of marriage between people just because it isn't the "same" s their own type of marriage anymore. I put this in the same category as freedom of religion. It is freedom of expression of one's beliefs. This is not a moral question it is a civil rights issue in my mind – the same as when this country use to limit who could vote. Remember there was a time when black Americans and even women were not allowed to vote in this country. The voters eventually agreed voting for both blacks and women should be allowed. I have hope that Minnesotans will eventually do the same for the freedom of marriage. It may not be this election year, but someday this too shall pass!